I See A Different You
by QuasiOuster
Summary: AU version of Season 4.0. Little did Jo or Zane know that one flippant invitation would end in a series of unexpected encounters.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: I do not claim to own any parts of Eureka. No infringement or profit is intended from this work. **_

_**This story takes place during the first half of Season 4 (4.0) and is an AU version of events. **_

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**Chapter 1: Astray**

_Now we are apart, there's nothing we can do.  
__In different place, I see another you …_

_(Founder's Day, Sherriff's Office)_

Jo's heart was having a difficult time catching up with her brain. This man in front of her looked like Zane Donovan but he wasn't the man she loved. This person was snarky, irresponsible and cold. In other words, he was an asshole. She had hesitated and her guy was replaced by an asshole.

"Who _are_ you?" Jo asked with genuine incredulity.

"Come home with me and I'll show you." There was no warmth or playfulness in the invitation, just scorn. And a challenge.

He looked at her with thinly veiled irritation; clueless. From her, there was sadness as she processed the emptiness between them.

Silence hung in the air, Carter's interrogation forgotten.

Jo turned away.

TBC …

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_AN: Sorry for the short beginning (it's based on a missing scene from A New World 4x02 on the Season 4 DVD). This story became too long to post as one chapter so I had to split it up accordingly. It's another one of the orphans that's been sitting on my hard drive for a couple of years. I'll post as I edit over the next week or so. As for my Reboot sequel, a good chunk of it is done, I just don't want to post it until it's mostly finished. So for those of you still interested in that, it's in the works before the end of the year._

_I like having concepts around which to organize my thoughts on a story and this time, it's Koop, several lines of which got me thinking about this story again. So song credit for 'I See a Different You' by Koop._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: _Forces … solid_**

_"She knew of his dark side, asked was there no light  
__He said 'Honey, I'm the Devil; it just wouldn't be right.'"_

When the door opened, Jo Lupo was greeted by a chiseled version of her former lover clad only in low-slung sweatpants. He stared at her with a hint of a smile but said nothing. She remained silent as well but returned his stare. Instead of focusing on the fact that he was half naked, she tried her best to project a powerful expression of indifference.

Propping his arm up against the door, he finally broke their standoff to let his eyes linger along her body. His leer buzzed against her skin despite her best efforts to stay calm. The Zane she was accustomed to had never hidden his aesthetic appreciation of her even before it was welcomed. But it had never been like this; a lust so thoroughly mixed with danger. Mortal danger she could handle but this sexual danger she was getting from him was an entirely different thing.

"Why Ms. Lupo, three times in one day? You're insatiable. I don't know what I did to provoke the honor of your handcuffs tonight but I'm assuming I've been a very, very bad boy." His eyes roamed her body again and he licked his lips in a manner that should have infuriated her given their interactions over the past few hours. Yet his attention still had her reigning in the hardening and tightening of her most sensitive areas. It also had her reigning in her annoyance lest she abandon her intentions.

Frowning, she moved past him into the apartment. He gave a half-hearted attempt to block her but she brushed him aside and walked in anyway.

"Date end early?"

She kept her expression neutral and used the opportunity to sweep her eyes around his place. It looked mostly the same to her with an unrecognized item here and there. That familiarity made this 'thing' she was here for easier. "You must be losing your touch." When she was done with her assessment, she turned around to face him again trying hard not to let her eyes wander.

Zane remained at the door, adorable expression of confusion on his face. He didn't know what to make of her being there. That was fine by Jo because she was tired of being the only confused person here, stuck in a new world with an altered life. The fact that he stood there, radiating arrogance and ignorant of how the world had so dramatically shifted? It made her kind of want to punch him in that pretty face of his. But that would be bad.

It was already getting more difficult to keep from staring at his muscled chest. Just thinking about it was distracting, although maybe she was simply stalling.

Finally, he closed the door—a touch harder than necessary she noted—and walked over to where she was standing. "You following me, Lupo?"

There was a bit of an edge to his voice. Jo couldn't even muster being offended. She hadn't been following him but she _had_ been spying on him.

She wasn't used to hearing that kind of tone from Zane, not with her or anyone else. It was that danger again, that sexual aggression. She wanted to run scared from it. If she left now, she could write this off as PTSD, go home and lick her wounds. She could sit on her couch and stare at that damn engagement ring. She could try not to think of how empty her bed was going to feel after everything that had happened today—and after being so close to obtaining something she thought she wanted in her life.

Jo could do any of those things yet here she was, rooted to this spot in his apartment. Against her better judgment, she was drawn to the hostile passion directed at her from this stranger. If only it was incidental that he also was a lot like her former boyfriend for whom she powerfully yearned.

"Seriously, Lupo, what the hell are you doing here?" The sound of his rising irritation caused her to turn away from him.

Was she here because of curiosity? Depression over her loss? Bitterness about her new reality? Inevitable lust for her lover no matter the circumstances? No, it was as simple as her original question to him. She needed to know who this man was and why her rejection had condemned them to this. But she couldn't afford to focus on her motivations now, only her actions. It was time to make a move or she would lose her nerve.

Ignoring his anger, she turned back around and slowly approached until she was standing in front of him. It was now or never.

"I thought I was invited," she replied and grabbed his head to meet her lips in a fierce kiss.

Zane stood stone still for several seconds at the ambush but didn't pull away. Jo used the opportunity to run one of her hands down his naked chest and move the other to run her fingers through his hair, still holding him to her. She pulled back for a moment to meet his stunned face. He paused and parted his lips to ask a question he was clearly having trouble formulating. However, Jo wasn't interested in being patient and moved in for another kiss, this time slipping her tongue into his mouth and exploring. Zane took a sharp inhale in response that seemed to kick some part of his brain into gear.

Fortunately for Jo, it was the part that she'd been hoping would come out.

Putting his arms around her and working a hand under her jacket, he pushed her hips into him, probably testing to see how serious she was. He met her lips and tongue for every stroke and when the palm of his hand met her ass and squeezed, she gasped into his mouth. He chuckled as if this seduction was his idea all along. But to remind him who was the boss of this situation, she pushed the top half of her body against his and felt the satisfaction of his shiver at the contact.

There were no further exclamations of surprise or moments of questioning. Jo could only assume what Zane's relationship with this timeline's version of her was like but it seemed a turbulent one. Even though Zane appeared all in right now, his responses confirmed her speculation as they traded challenges—a guide of the hand, fingers sneaking inside a waistband, a little pressure against the hips, back and forth, again and again. Each time they escalated their passions, daring the other to back down.

Jo vowed she would not be the one to retreat. She needed this so much right now. Alone again, she was overwhelmed by her sense of failure and loss. She had choked and now her guy treated her like a stranger—no, worse than a stranger because there wouldn't be the disdain. The man who loved her may be gone but she still had this. She had to believe she could still make him feel like no other woman had or would.

Through this passion, maybe she could make sense out of this. She wanted to be with him. In any universe, how could he not know that? Even when she was being insecure and scared, Jo and Zane together meant normal; it meant home.

The feel of him around her somehow helped her look past the hesitation from before. This Zane didn't know anything of her emotions—neither the disappointment nor the love that inspired it. For this Zane, there was nothing but lust motivating his actions as he pushed her jacket from her arms and practically ripped off her scarf. As he walked her back to his bedroom area, he moved both arms underneath her shirt and divested her of that as well. He had broken their kiss for that move but as soon as he dropped the shirt to the ground, his lips were along her neck, kisses extended across the top of her chest until finally his mouth returned to hers. He pushed forward, not understanding why this was happening but hopefully wanting her enough to see how far they could take this.

Finding his bedroom door closed, Zane slammed her body against the hard wood and continued to take her over. Of course, Jo was having none of this and pushed against his side until their positions were reversed, him with his back against the door and getting ravaged by her. As he leaned down to unhook her bra, she took the opportunity to caress his chest with her hands and lips, enjoying the way his skin felt underneath her fingers and between her teeth. Eventually, he managed to unhook her bra and it lay limp between them waiting to be slipped off of her arms. He brought his hands to her shoulders where he guided the straps down, first one arm and then the other, throwing the bra aside and immediately taking her breasts in his hands.

Her moans of appreciation elicited a smirk from him that she promptly covered with another round of deep, passionate kisses.

Before she could plan her next move, he placed his hands around her backside and scooped her up in his arms, not missing a beat with that talented mouth of his. With her legs securely encircling his waist, he turned her back around and pushed her roughly against the door while he carefully found the doorknob and turned it. Within the space of her exhale, he had her on her back, laid across the covers of his bed.

Jo didn't stay down for long though. She pulled herself up so that she could stand on her knees in front of him and admire his flushed body, heaving with the exertion and excitement of their swift seduction. There was no move to continue, she simply stared at him as he likewise took her in. She reached around to stroke his back and savor how his muscles moved and contracted as he did the same. Her hands drifted downward farther and farther until they met the waistband of his sweatpants and then went farther still. Zane grinned at her boldness. Those maddening, beautiful eyes were twinkling with amusement but were also burning with lust as were her own she was sure.

And there was something else in his eyes too. Fear? The inevitable question about what the hell they were doing right now?

But she didn't want this to stop and apparently neither did he because he unbuttoned her jeans and mirrored her actions with his hands. Within the space of a few seconds, he had stepped out of his pants and underwear and had watched her lean back as he slid hers off as well. He kept his eyes on her the whole time, pausing only to pull at her boots that had gotten in his way. When she was finally naked below him, he chanced a long, lingering sweep of her. Jo could tell that he liked what he saw.

And when his eyes had their fill, he moved in to cover her body with his and continue their unexpected dance.

He'd challenged her to find out who he was. She became so lost in him that she forgot to care.

TBC ...

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_Song credit to Forces … Darling by Koop._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Forces … darling**

_"As shadows grow, they can't believe the pull; how the night had got so strong."_

Zane fell hard on his back, pillows long since pushed to the floor. He had just had the most amazing sex of his life.

He would proudly admit to anyone that he'd been around the block with the ladies with more than satisfactory results. However, what he'd just experienced with Global Dynamics' infamous chief of security had blown every encounter out of the water. Right now, she was panting beside him trying to regain an even breath after the workout they'd just had.

Who the hell was this woman lying next to him?

Technically, he knew who she was. She was Jo Lupo, uptight Enforcer, straight arrow and general frigid bitch. She was the ultimate pain in his ass. But she wasn't being a pain in the ass tonight; there was nothing but pleasure coming from her.

He hated her; hated everything about her and what she stood for. Well, that wasn't really true. He hated her law and order attitude and that she tied him in knots because despite that, he still wanted her like crazy. He didn't bother to hide it. In fact, the sheer frequency that he was able to work that into their interactions was the main reason they didn't get along.

Except sometimes things aligned between them. They'd find a person who mutually annoyed them more or, in a crisis, they might both forget that they were supposed to be enemies. They'd share in some camaraderie, maybe she'd offer a little smile his way. In those moments, he would wonder.

Whatever this was went beyond every expectation he'd ever genuinely entertained about Jo Lupo though. Sure he was hot for her but he'd always thought that if they ever did get together, he'd tire of her quickly, only interested in the chase. But having had a taste of her, he wanted her even more.

Running his fingers over his head, he chanced a quick glance at her lying next to him. Her eyes were closed and she hadn't yet covered herself so he got another view of her amazing body. Even as brushed aside the memories of what they'd just done together, his scientific mind wanted an explanation for how they had ended up here. Just a few hours ago, it had been the usual snarking and animosity.

Except … she had been acting strangely all day.

Mostly she'd been pissed at him but there was something else. He was intimately familiar with an upset Lupo and from what he'd seen today, she was majorly upset. She'd tried to prank him while Carter held him in custody in town. She'd taunted him sarcastically with her fake endearments when they'd roped him into the Sherriff's office for some bullshit questioning for something he had nothing to do with. He may like to have a little fun with the more uptight at GD but he had never been responsible for anything major. Like he'd really jeopardize his supervised release terms. It was irritating that Lupo chose to ignore that.

He'd written her behavior off as some kind of mind game; hell, he still thought all of this was a mind game. But that didn't quite answer his questions and it didn't quite explain what was going on.

And the sex they'd just had? How could she have possibly made him feel like that? He prided himself on cranking up the charm on a dime, including for people like Jo Lupo. But she had come on to him and he'd just reacted. There was no hesitation; she knew how to push every one of his buttons. There was the occasional fingernail running over one of his nipples causing him to involuntarily tremble. Or there was the way she wrapped her legs around him when she wanted him deeper inside her or tickled the spot on his back between his shoulder blades. It was all just what he wanted without even knowing it and definitely without having told her. It would be a long time before he forgot the way she looked him right in the eye when she shattered underneath him as if taking in his every reaction to her, drawing out everything he could possibly give in those moments. As she convulsed around him, he swore she pinpointed the exact moment of his surrender and grasped one of his hands as he found his release.

Insane. Earth-shattering but completely insane.

Zane slowly withdrew from the bed needing to straighten himself up—and maybe he'd take a minute to get his head together too. Jo hadn't moved but her breaths were coming out a little easier, a little slower than before. When she felt him move away, her eyes opened and he felt them trained on him.

Would she immediately bolt? Would she be angry? Embarrassed? Upset? Turning to meet her gaze, he couldn't tell what she was feeling.

But he knew he didn't want her to go. "Stay right there," he said, gesturing for her to say put. "Please," he added when she frowned at the command. He ran to the bathroom, disposed of his condom and cleaned himself up a bit. Standing at his sink, he splashed water across his face and just looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Seriously, Donovan, what the hell are you doing?" Only the sound of running water responded.

When he walked back out to his room, she had remained in his bed as he requested but she had wrapped herself in his comforter. He was disappointed by that but he supposed he understood. Things felt really awkward and he still could not get a read on her. Jo lay so still in the darkness of his room, aware of him but not letting on. He wondered if she was trying to strategize an elaborate exit strategy or if she was wondering why he was standing in the doorway, naked and staring.

He inched towards the bed. Jo was sitting up at this point still not looking in his direction. She had a flush to her skin, whether due to anger or embarrassment or shyness, it wasn't clear. He enjoyed seeing this kind of subtle reaction from her.

When he sat down beside her on the now bare bed, he hesitated. He'd told her to stay but he wasn't quite sure what to do now.

As suddenly as she had kissed him earlier, she turned and fixed those intense eyes directly on him. His instinct was to lash out at the judgment he was used to getting from her. Even though they'd just spent long moments being as intimate as two people could be, he couldn't shake that she was setting him up for some sort of humiliation or proof of her domination over him.

Perhaps sensing his suspicion, she placed a finger to his lips to quiet him and swooped in for another kiss. This one wasn't like the first. It was soft and lingering. She was savoring him and he was responding in kind.

And just like that, they fell back onto the bed and into each other.

TBC ...

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_AN: Song credit to 'Forces … Darling' by Koop. _


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Things are about to get a little steamier. I hope that'll help you forgive the lack of science acumen in this chapter (set during All the Rage). Interestingly, one of the particulars has been in the news recently (including in a segment I overheard while editing this). Song credit: Waltz for Koop._

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**Chapter 4: Waltz (Part I)**

_"We never seem to find peace of mind."_

_(One Week Later)_

Zane felt like he was losing his mind. He barely knew who he was much less any of the blurred faces around him. He was furious and there was no explanation for it. Everything made him angry—the feel of his shirt, the dim lights, the security asshat blubbering in front of him. He wasn't such a big man now without his gun.

And then she was right there. _Her_.

As Jo Lupo got in his face, he knew without a doubt that he wanted to tear her from limb to limb. She was close enough to do some damage. He could probably get in a good head-butt or a bite to that incredible mouth. She was speaking and all he could do was turn towards the warm breath of her words against his skin and allow the rage to rise another notch in response.

It also brought recent memories of her strained voice demanding that he please her.

And he had pleased her. He tasted her and teased her; he enjoyed her exploration of him and after she had her fun, he fucked her into a boneless, sweaty satisfaction. He remembered the power of her body taking him inside her, the intensity of her release and his. Through the haze of his anger he remembered that one silky finger she ran across his cheek before she dressed and left him trembling, naked and utterly spent in his bed.

"You need to come now!" she yelled into his face.

"Oh you'd love that wouldn't you? Or at least you did a few days ago."

Pursing her lips, she squeezed the wrist she held against the wall, forcing him to loosen his grip on the gun. Zane was fine with that; she could have the damn gun. He was more interested in taking her in hand anyway.

Something close to a growl reached his ears. "Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you."

"I bet you will," he leered, pushing himself against her provocatively. How could he be so turned on and yet so disgusted by her at the same time? "Bite me, Lupo!" There was anger to his words but also a purr of seduction.

She slammed him against the wall, grinding against him just as hard. "Don't. Tempt me." Then, all too soon, she ruined his erotic musings by turning him around and pushing him face-first against cold metal.

His bitter response was to scream that she better strap his arms down tight because if he got loose, he was going to kill her.

All around was confusion. Anger. Frustration. Yes, frustration with Lupo and the way her firm body slid against his as she reprimanded him. He'd felt the friction of that body underneath him; caressed her slick skin as she rode him to insanity. Her aggressive handling of him now made him want to touch her like he'd fantasized about since Day One when he'd seen her polishing that gun from his jail cell. Or when he'd admired how she had bent over her desk in that damned smoking hot deputy uniform. Oh yeah, that was a good one, especially when he imagined her wearing his lingerie underneath.

She did strap him down. Strapped him down tight. The metal of her handcuffs pressed into his skin as she adjusted them and checked that they were secure. The feel of her fingers, so firm in their grasp, reminded him of how she had gripped him tight not so long ago in an entirely different way. That thought sent another rush of lust straight to his groin, which should have made him more furious but only mildly annoyed him. God, he wished that they were somewhere else working out this aggression in a far more recreational manner.

Jo led him down the hallway pushing him in front of her while she guided him by the hands. Oh yeah, if he got a hold of her, she was going down and he'd give them both what they wanted. First he'd knock her to the floor and then he'd hold her down while he devoured her lips and pressed himself into her. He would release her hair from its binding and let it run through his fingers and surround her. If he was lucky, she'd wrap her amazing legs around him, urging him to take her right on the spot in a fit of fury and desire and instinct. He'd be lucky if he didn't immediately tear her clothes from her body and hoped she'd do the same to his so that he could get as close to her hot, slick skin as possible.

Zane closed his eyes, feeling very light headed all of a sudden. He was able to remain on his feet but behind him, he felt Jo steering him towards the infirmary rather than the holding cell in her office. She still had her hand against his but she was now running her fingers across his wrist and had taken the other hand to grasp him firmly but painlessly around his neck.

He looked around. There was chaos everywhere. Lights were flashing and if people weren't wandering around aimlessly, they were fighting and screaming at each other. Shaking his head, he remembered that he had felt like that only a minute ago. He had held a gun on someone! What the hell was that about?

As Jo led him into the infirmary, she pushed him onto an empty bed next to an irate Isaac Parrish. She let her hand linger against his neck before letting go, but her gaze remained on his as if trying to figure something out.

She turned and looked at Allison. "Something weird just happened. As I was bringing Zane here, my head cleared a little. But I can feel the agitation creeping back up on me." She wiped her sweaty palms against her thighs and started pacing.

"I don't know what's going on here but I feel that too. I've been out of my mind all day but on the way here, my head cleared."

Allison thought for a moment. "Was there something you saw that could explain the changes in your condition? Or the return of it once you arrived here?" Allison asked, frantically gathering equipment and heading towards Zane.

"No," Jo replied. "It barely took two minutes to get here. I just grabbed Zane and led him here."

Allison reached Zane and started running scans and tests on him while Parrish mumbled something incoherent next to them. Zane could see he was strapped down but that wasn't stopping him from testing his restraints—his physical restraints that is. Judging by his words, he wasn't holding anything else back.

When Allison took some blood, Zane flinched. "What the hell is wrong with you? Get away from me and find another damn guinea pig for your experiments!

Allison sighed in frustration but otherwise ignored him. "Whatever happened, it's coming back with a vengeance."

"I know," Jo said in between clenched teeth. She'd walked over to Zane and pushed him down forcefully against the bed. He immediately retaliated but he was soon overpowered with one restraint hooked onto his wrist. She was moving his hand into the other restraint while pushing against his chest and Zane felt that dizziness again.

"Wait," he shouted. "There it is again. Do you feel that?" he said focusing on Jo.

She held still and returned his gaze. Nodding she stepped back and looked at Allison.

Allison had paused too. "Okay, what was the same just now as when you were in the hallway? Did you hit some kind of nerve point, maybe in the wrist or in Zane's neck?"

Zane shook his head. "Maybe but that wouldn't explain Jo's reaction." He glanced at Jo, flashing her an odd look. "I've got a theory though." He used his free hand to pull Jo towards him, lifted his body up and kissed her. Jo made some initial effort to push away but Zane held her head against him, prolonging the kiss as long as he could. As he suspected, the longer he held her, the clearer his brain became.

Beside them, Allison tugged at his arm trying to release Jo from his embrace. "Zane, now isn't the time for your games and you're already on Dr. Young's radar given your adventures with the opposite sex on company time."

"Excuse me!" Zane responded, barely tearing himself from Jo's mouth to express his offense. That reminder was enough for Jo to visibly stiffen although she didn't move away.

Allison was in no mood for his distractions, but watched as he focused enough to pull Jo back to him. "This is serious. Just look around you." Zane released Jo and did as she requested. People were wandering around becoming more and more frantic. It was like they were becoming crazy, rage-filled zombies or something. Another bizarre disaster for the Eureka history books.

Finally, Jo shook herself out of her stunned silence over that kiss. "What the hell Zane?" Even now, he could feel his anger returning and the same was true of Jo. He took her hand again and ran his fingers along her wrist and up the arm of her jacket. He was compelled to feel as much skin as possible. For some reason, she wasn't objecting.

Zane turned to Allison. "I think I know what's going on. The Riot Suppression System prototype is based on targeting oxytocin levels but something obviously went wrong and affected the vasopressin levels instead."

"That could be it," Allison said, feeding some information into the tablet she'd just picked up. "They're extremely similar, almost identical except for two amino acids."

"Right. When Jo and I, uh, 'interacted' on the way here and just now, the triggering of oxytocin in our systems is overriding the vasopressin and neutralizing its effect." The irony that _she_ was the one keeping him sane was not lost on Zane.

Jo frowned. "So what's the solution then? We ask everyone at GD to make out? And we weren't 'interacting,' we were fighting." By this time, Zane had chanced a moment to release his other arm and used it to run his fingers through Jo's hair after letting it out of her messy ponytail. She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "Dr. Young would say that there are some serious sexual harassment issues to consider with that plan."

But she still hadn't asked him to stop. Instead she was caressing one of Zane's legs as she tried to keep focus. Staying close to Jo was the only thing keeping him in check and that compulsion was quickly turning into a craving. This would appear not to be so one-sided judging by her actions.

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Allison grabbed a sedative applicator and started calibrating it. "I can maybe come up with something to mimic that reaction but I don't have the right tools in here."

"Well, that's what we were doing in the NLWp Lab. It's complicated stuff and obviously fraught with potential error. We need to get down there. If we can reconfigure the RSS, we can maybe get everyone in one fell swoop like how this all started." He swung his legs over the side of the bed but instead of hopping down, he pulled Jo against him, back pushed between his spread legs. He removed her jacket and continued to run his hands up and down her arms and in her hair. "And it's not the making out that automatically does the trick. For an organic reaction, the people involved have got to be susceptible to releasing large amounts of oxytocin to begin with. Two strangers couldn't do the trick. Acquaintances might be able to in small amounts and friends could if they're close."

"If that's the case, then what's going on with us?" Jo turned her head seeking a better answer.

He smirked at her and brought his lips to her ear. "You tell me, Lupo," he whispered. "You're the one that showed up on my doorstep the other night. And we weren't really fighting a minute ago, not entirely." Jo closed her eyes at the feel of his breath against her cheek. A little louder to accommodate the eavesdropping doctor, he added, "sexual tension is the best way to get your hormones going. I can tell that between the two of us, we're producing more than enough to get us through this." He laughed into her neck at her expression and kissed her gently.

From what Zane could tell, Allison didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed by them. Shaking her head, she chose to just carry on. "Tess is already on her way to the NLWp Lab with Fargo and Carter. There's no way we can make it down there with all this chaos going on." She gestured at the crowd surrounding the infirmary who were starting to look less aimless and more focused on coming after them, the last holdouts for sanity. "Can you walk them through a modification?"

Zane looked up from Jo's neck, excited to feel her hands once again on his thighs. He nodded and held her a little tighter. "I should be able to." He peeked over Jo's shoulder to catch her eye. "I'm going to need your help though."

Things between them were weird at best and totally FUBAR at worst. But right now, she was the only one holding off the terrifying rage and insanity that he'd been experiencing. If he had to take her here or in the GD rotunda or on the middle of Main Street to help get his brain back to normal, then he was going to do that. And since he didn't have the concentration to lie to himself, he had to admit that he'd enjoy every second of it.

From the bed next to them, Parrish was jarred from his stupor and started thrashing again. "You two need to get a room!" Allison walked over and stabbed him in the arm with a sedative.

TBC …


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Waltz (Part II)**

_"We're always on the run, away from the sun …"_

This was insanity.

She was the head of security for one of the most advanced research facilities on the planet.

She was a trained combat specialist and general badass.

She could kill even an extraordinary man with her bare hands.

Yet, they were in the middle of some chaotic GD crisis and her most useful purpose was making out with the rogue scientist who was partly at fault for said crisis in the first place. And damn if his hands and lips and everything else didn't feel amazing against her.

As soon as her annoyance at the situation would rise, she'd remember the burning rage and confusion caused by Parrish's RSS device. If this was what she had to do to keep her mind intact then so be it. And honestly, there were worse binds to be in than being sexed up by the hot, dark-side doppelganger of her other-timeline boyfriend. Yes, her life was that complicated.

Allison had re-established contact with Carter and the others and Zane was now talking Tess into making adjustments to the device. It had been difficult for Zane to concentrate and they could tell by the activity outside that things were getting worse. They needed to work fast.

But every time the tension level rose, Zane was back in her arms getting a healthy oxytocin boost to keep him going through the next few minutes. The breaks were taking longer and longer and their activities were becoming more and more intense. In fact, he was currently slipping his hand beneath her bra as he caressed her back and she had a few fingers stroking him just below the waistline of his jeans.

Zane pulled back and grabbed Allison's PDA again. "Ok, Red, I don't know how much longer I can stay with you but this next part is really tricky. Your realignment has to be exact or it'll make the situation now look like a skip through Disneyland." He proceeded to list a bunch of technical specs to her, pausing every now and again to rub his eyes in concentration. While he talked, Jo had her hands underneath his shirt, roughly fondling his bare skin. When she saw he was having trouble, she slipped her arms out and begin massaging his head, running her fingers through his hair and circling his temples and neck with a firm pressure. In response, he leaned back into her, turning to his side so he could put one arm around to grip her hip with a few desperate squeezes.

Being with him like this was becoming much too easy. Then again, she wasn't really 'with him' since they were just using each other as an alternative to insanity. Consumption by burning lust or burning rage? It was a no-brainer.

Zane finished his list and moved onto the calculations Tess needed to initialize the device. His words became slower and more slurred. Jo dropped her arm so that she could once again dip inside his shirt, this time to squeeze his toned chest. She thought to herself again that she shouldn't be enjoying this as much as she was but to ignore this fine specimen of manhood between her legs was simply too much to ask of her.

"Zane? Zane!" Allison's voice snapped Jo out of her thoughts and she saw the slight panic from Allison at Zane's latest lengthy pause. She was at the entrance of the infirmary trying to hold the masses back, sedative gun at the ready for the inevitable collapsing of their last barrier against the mob. It wasn't likely to help for long. Jo could already see the door starting to buckle under the pressure of the people pushing against the other side. She could hear Tess's voice over the PDA calling for Zane as well. But he wasn't really registering much of anything, now gripping her hip hard enough to bruise.

Jo pulled at him until he was again facing her. "Zane?" she said quietly. His eyes opened and he looked straight at her with an intensity that threatened to steal her breath. He was having a much worse time of things because not only was he trying to keep his sanity, he was also orchestrating a great deal of complex information in his head and then communicating it to someone not in the room. The translation was tapping his concentration. Plus, the escalating situation around them, the banging and groaning and screaming surrounding the infirmary, was not helping their stress levels.

Zane gestured for Allison and then practically threw her PDA back at her. "Jo take your clothes off. Now." Jo blinked in shock but Zane was having no hesitation from her. Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, he threw it off of her followed by his own shirt. He pressed into her, skin to skin, and anxiously fiddled with her pants until he'd unfastened them to his satisfaction. Kissing her hard, he cradled her cheek with one hand while working on her zipper with the other. She had been sitting on the examination bed trying to cradle as much of his body into hers. But in an attempt to get her naked it seems, he pulled her down and slid her pants off. He wasted no time lifting her back up to lie beneath him in nothing but her undergarments and a pair of boots. Before her back hit the bed, he had climbed on top of her, lips exploring hers in a passionate kiss.

"Uh, Zane," Allison chimed in from across the room again. He raised his hand indicating that she needed to give him a moment. Zane moaned as he would grind into her and Jo could feel how hard he was for her. Now she really felt bad for him even as she tried to block out the irritation climbing over her nerves. So she just followed along, wrapping her legs around his and touching him anywhere she could. When his motions slowed, she guided his hand and then his mouth to her breasts, tensing at the feel of his fingers and tongue roughly teasing her through her bra. She justified her wanton behavior as 'taking one for the team,' but this was so much more. In the back of her mind, she knew they were going to have to pay for this later.

But first, they needed to save the town. Again.

Zane lifted off of her finally but only slightly. He kissed her lips again and then once more. Two more lingering kisses later, he pushed himself up and Allison ran over with the PDA.

Bringing the device to his ear, he tried to control his heavy panting.

"Sorry about that. Emergency head check." He proceeded to instruct her on the last steps. Until Fargo executed the final part of the plan, all they could do was wait.

His task finished, Zane had no intention of waiting quietly. He ran the PDA over to Allison and stalked back to where Jo sat, grinding against her body and attaching his lips to her neck. She groaned louder than she'd have liked when he returned to cupping one of her breasts and teasing her nipple with purpose.

Jo's breathing was heavy and her body on fire for him along with the ever-present agitation. But she still had the scruples to be very aware of their predicament. "Zane, we've got an audience," she pleaded. He raised his head and noted the spazzed out GD zombies surrounding the room. Undaunted, he returned his mouth to her cheek and continued to run his lips along her skin.

"Don't care," he murmured into her ear. It sent a chill throughout her.

Changing tactics, she unwrapped her legs from around him. "We need to go help Allison."

He buried his head in her neck and took several large gulps of air to calm himself. She fully understood his frustration and as much as she wanted him, it couldn't be as badly as he was burning for her. Their desire for each other was fueled by the need to hold onto their sanity but there was also something very real there that had been brewing since Jo had shown up at his apartment, possibly before then if the other version of her had harbored an attraction for Zane too. He lifted himself up and looked over his shoulder at Allison barely holding the door against the crazed scientists. Their fingers were starting to slip through and Allison stood tense with her tranquilizer gun at the ready.

Zane briefly closed his eyes. He let a breath out before focusing on her again. "Okay. But stay close." He pulled away from her but kept her hand in his. They walked to the entrance and Zane added his weight to Allison's as she tried to push the arms back through the opening. In her current state of undress, Jo was loathe to get too close to the raging eggheads. In an effort to help both Allison and Zane, she slid her body against his and added her strength to keeping the door closed.

With temporary reinforcements, Allison took the opportunity to call Carter to check on the status of the modified RSS. She explained that they were holding their own against the infected personnel but not for much longer.

But while Allison filled in Carter on their status, Zane had quickly gotten worse. Jo wasn't feeling so well herself, despite the proximity with and stimulation by Zane. That same itching, antsy feeling was crawling up her back and it felt so hot that sweat was starting to build up and pour off of her. Zane turned away from holding the door and immediately began to lick at the salty sweat forming at the base of her neck. She tried to push back against him to at least add some weight to the now looser door. However Zane denied anything that didn't involve him taking her over completely. He grabbed underneath her legs, picking her up. Without breaking the kiss he'd initiated, he rushed her to another examination bed and proceeded to finish what they'd started.

She barely heard Allison's frantic report to Carter that she'd lost her and Zane. Then she only heard the sound of Zane lips across her body as her own moans of pleasure joined by his.

TBC …

* * *

_AN: Song credit, Waltz for Koop._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Waltz (Part III)**

"… _but we've only just begun."_

Zane could feel the fog clearing in his brain. There was that dizziness and then one sense after another coming into focus. All around him was a strange quiet with only the smallest of sounds registering in the hollow room.

And all around him heat and a silky firmness against his body.

He looked down to see Jo underneath him clad only in her bra and panties and barely even that given his obvious intentions. Both straps of her bra were pulled down and one of the cups was precariously close to spilling her out. One hand was at her hip, fingers in between her skin and the thin lace of her panties.

He was starting to piece together the last fifteen minutes. The RSS device, Tess Fontana, Allison's urgency. And Jo against him, surrounding him, beneath him. He could feel how hard he was against her now.

He groaned at the thought of pulling away for a variety of reasons—the humiliation, the fear, but mostly the disappointment of not being able to bury himself inside her like he'd done a few nights before.

To her credit, the Enforcer moved to adjust her bra without pretense and slid from under him to retrieve her clothes across the room. There was no screaming or accusations. Judging by the flush to her skin, she was feeling just as embarrassed as he.

And just as worked up. He'd been around the block and he had a good idea of when he'd done his duty in the seduction department.

She turned around to check on him but quickly went back to collecting her pile of clothes, now decreasing as she put each item on. As she slipped on her blouse, he saw the scratches he'd made to her back and the bruising that his hands and mouth had caused to the skin across her body. There was no hiding the string of hickeys around her neck and down her chest disappearing underneath her blouse and blazer. He could feel the same signs on his body and watched how Jo noticed them as well. It was overwhelming how sexy it felt.

When she reached out to hand his shirt to him, he fought the urge to drop it and grab for her again instead.

Then Allison was next to them, trying not to laugh and looking very embarrassed herself. "I trust your modifications worked, Zane? You two seem more … like yourselves." They both nodded. She ran some kind of scan and took blood from each of them. Then she scurried back across the room to prepare for the deluge of patients she was likely to be receiving soon.

Returning his attention to Jo, he noticed she was still standing next to him yet neither had said a word. He silently put his shirt back on and watched as the first stream of patients and Jack Carter came rushing through the door.

"Nice save, Zane!" he said as he rushed to check on Allison. Before he reached her, he twirled around and walked backwards the last few feet. "You too, Jo," he added with a wink.

Great. Zane could kill Carter for adding to the awkwardness of the situation.

He tried to gauge Jo's reaction to assess how much damage control was required this time. His first instinct was to respond with defensive sarcasm but things had progressed well beyond his most notable Lupo coping tactics. Instead, his mind went straight to taking in her flushed skin, her clothes sitting askew and hair spilling over her shoulders from when he'd pulled it out of it's messy ponytail. The lust flared up in him again and he had to fight the irresistible want building up inside him. Stopping this desire was out of the question—all he could do was keep it in check so he could avoid another night of lockup. Maybe he should check with Allison about the after-effects because these urges were making him feel as out of control as the rage phase of this latest experiment gone wrong. Unfortunately, he was pretty certain she'd say it was all him rather than a result of the current GD calamity.

Her expression was unreadable and if she noticed his arousal, she wasn't reacting to it. She clearly wanted to address this in some way though or she would have walked away by now to go check on security matters or whatever it was that she did after a disaster like this. Yet she was just standing there, avoiding eye contact and waiting.

If they had been alone, this standoff would be over. He'd have her on the ground, naked and in his arms.

When did his nemesis turn into this undeniable fantasy? He'd always wanted her—had never denied it which was the root of a lot of their problems. But it had just been a game. What was going on right now felt so real. Too real. It was frightening and exciting and utterly crazy.

"So," he said, lifting his head and doing his best to get the inevitable uncomfortable aftermath out of the way. She turned her head to meet his gaze and he took a sharp inhale at what he saw. His desire had forced him to misjudge her. She was every bit as conflicted and turned on as he was.

And with that, he was a goner. He may as well be a useless puddle of hormones as much good as he was right now.

"So," she repeated with a slight smile. They stood there, electricity sparking between them as they recalled the passion they'd been engaging in only a few moments before and probably the passion they'd repeatedly engaged in the previous week.

Zane sighed. "Lupo, I—"

"My office? Five minutes?" She smiled coyly at him. "It won't take long. I just need to see what you've got."

His response was immediate. But a lusty smile and nod of the head was the most coherent thing he could convey. She leaned in slightly closer to him for a moment as if aiming to devour him as she'd been doing only a few moments before. But then she shook herself back to attention and walked out of the infirmary, back straight and serious game face intact. His eyes went to hip level and appreciated the lovely sway he caught before she disappeared from view.

Who was this woman?

Hopping off the bed, he adjusted himself, ran his fingers through his hair and followed. He was about to find out.

"Anytime you want, Lupo," he murmured under his breath.

TBC …

* * *

_AN: Song credit, Waltz for Koop._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Blues**

"_I'm sad, alone,  
__I'm so sad on my own.  
__The truth is,  
__We were much too young.  
__Now I'm looking for you,  
__Or anyone like you."_

Science could be so destructive. Jo wished the eggheads would remember that when they were being such cavalier idiots about all the world-destroying crap they created.

She got it. Innovation requires risk. But what else was she supposed to feel when staring at the pit that used to be her house. Everything she owned was destroyed because some jerk thought he was too bulletproof to follow basic safety procedures for a potential—now proven—instrument of destruction. Screw Larry Haberman.

Staring at the smoking remains of her house, she couldn't muster the energy to plot any revenge. She didn't have a place to live and almost all of her things had been obliterated in a matter of seconds. Her most important papers and items had been stored away in fire-proof boxes but it was a fraction of the everyday objects that made even this new world a home to her. There were so many things, big and small, that she could never replace.

She'd lost so much in the past weeks. Jo was strong but this latest blow was overwhelming. She had kept it together while coordinating things at GD and Fargo had assured her that the construction team would be out tomorrow to clear the debris and start on the re-build. Now that the emergency crews had gone, it was starting to sink in. The loss. The loneliness. It was difficult to think about tomorrow.

The immediate concern had been resolved at least. Deputy Andy had granted her request to crash in the Sheriff's Office with his usual cheer. After meeting with the construction crew in the morning, she'd worry about finding temporary housing and new clothes and salvaging what was left of her life from the rubble in front of her.

She felt the tiniest tremor come to her lips and tried to shut down the wave of despair bubbling up again.

The person approaching thought they were being silent but the empty streets and her keen senses gave them away. She was grateful for something else upon which to focus but dreaded the inevitable and well-meaning conversation she would have with whoever was moving toward her, whether it be neighbor or concerned acquaintance. All of her friends had already come by.

"Hey."

Jo stood up straighter hearing the familiar but unexpected voice. She had tuned out Zane after her house had been destroyed. Dealing with him today had been another kind of emotional ringer that she absolutely could not contemplate tonight.

Zane stopped next to her, close enough to almost brush shoulders.

"Hey," she returned, barely audible over the sound of the wind rustling the debris to and fro in front of them.

They stood there silently for several minutes, neither making any effort at conversation. Jo wondered why he was here. He had already thanked her for helping him out today so it was unclear what he was hoping to gain by showing up now. She hadn't the energy to inquire.

From the corner of her eye, she caught him sneaking glances at her, waiting for an opening perhaps. "I never liked Larry by the way. Nothing but a whiny, know-it-all kissass. Honestly, he's the worst."

Jo wasn't in the mood for jokes but she nodded in agreement.

She heard him take in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. He seemed to be working up to something. If he was here to ask for a favor—of any kind—she just might lose it on him.

"Let's get out of here," he finally said.

Confusion was her first reaction to his words. She didn't know how to respond.

"I'm serious Jo. Come back to my place with me."

He'd come all the way over here to say that? Jo turned to him and frowned. They were standing there staring at the obliterated remains of her life and he wanted to hook up? After everything they'd gone through today, she had felt a glimmer of hope for him. But this latest development had her right back to thinking that this version of Zane was more disgusting than she could tolerate.

Zane's eyes widened in panic and he put his hands up to protect himself. "I didn't mean it like that, I just want to help. I've got a couch, remember? You should—."

But he cut himself off, meaning to add a sarcastic quip or some sort of innuendo no doubt. He was genius enough to know that that wouldn't have gone down well at all.

Through narrowed eyes, Jo scrutinized the man next to her. He seemed tense, nervous too. Gone was the patronizing smirk of a few hours ago after he'd called her JoJo. There wasn't even the suspicion that usually shrouded their civil conversations, the ones outside of the bedroom that is. Behind closed doors they were a little more cordial. One of them would drop a hint and then she'd show up at his apartment well into the evening. He'd even made a joke once about whether he should be wining and dining her—or the other way around. But the fact that he was asking in between kisses as he stripped her of her clothes kind of said it all on that matter.

She inhaled sharply. He was trying. It was awkward and bumbling but from what she could tell, it was sincere. Jo wanted to reject his attempts at compassion. He had no idea what her emptiness felt like and how his mere presence exacerbated that. Would waking up to him tomorrow make her feel better or worse about life? No, he had no clue.

Yet it was almost midnight and he was still standing next to her trying his best not to be a lecherous bastard despite the clear temptation. Her gaze dropped to her feet. They'd made progress today and maybe that counted for something. They weren't where they used to be but they were a hell of a lot farther than they were a few weeks ago.

Zane remained beside her, silent and stiff without a clue what to do next. He was looking down as well, hands in his pockets. This was probably the most contrite she'd ever seen him in her life, in this timeline or the other. It was hard not to take pity on him.

She nudged his shoulder with her own. "Your couch sucks." It was true. His couch was very uncomfortable. Or at least it had been for what they'd been trying to do on it a few days ago.

Zane's shoulders relaxed and he grinned at her playfully rather than with any condescension. "There are other options too."

Jo's heart fluttered at the humor in his eyes and she despaired a bit at her reaction. Second-guessing herself, she glanced away again quickly. She didn't think he was offering just for the convenience of getting into her pants again but …" This could easily end up making things worse between them. Could she really trust him, especially now when she felt so defenseless?

Maybe sensing this or perhaps being in a hurry himself, Zane cut off any more opportunities to back out. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the sight of her home, or what was left of it, rather. As they turned in the direction of his apartment, Jo briefly contemplated what the average citizen of Eureka would think seeing them stroll hand-in-hand down the street. As the smell of smoldering ash dissipated, she tried to focus less on her doubts and fears and more on the warm grasp guiding her away from the evening's ruins.

She didn't know if the man next to her was what she needed right now. But he was there and she would take that small comfort.

TBC …

* * *

_AN: Song credit, Koop Island Blues. _

_Also, thanks Wyndes for the edits. It's nice to have some extra eyes and I will giggle __every time I see wonton soup now. Lady of Imladris, no worries about the ring since it'll barely be a mention. Good question about Jo's footwear. I know she's wearing boots with her suit in season 5 but I'm not sure about season 4 so I defaulted to that. Perhaps I should compromise and call them high heeled boots?_

_I appreciate all of you who are reading and reviewing this. I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the story. _


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Truth**

"_Now you're alone  
__You're so sad on your own.  
__The truth is,  
__We ran out of time.  
__Now you're looking for me,  
__Or anyone like me."_

When Zane had made the decision to go see her, he had no idea how things were going to go. He had felt bad for her. He'd felt grateful and beholden to her in a way too. But seeing her standing there looking at the burned out remnants of her house, it hit him that he'd seen variations of her defeated expression over the last few weeks. It was surprising how much that affected him. It didn't feel right.

From his point of view, the world had been turned on its head. He didn't know what was worse: that he'd almost been sent back to prison or that he'd spent a good amount of the day out of his mind—for the second time in so many weeks. He hated feeling out of control, like his brain had been messed with and re-worked. It was why he didn't drink and never did drugs of any kind. He'd realized pretty early that his brain was the ticket out of his train-wreck of a childhood and he would never jeopardize that if he could help it.

That Jo Lupo had been the one going to bat for him—well, he still didn't know what to think of that. The fact that they'd been sleeping together for the past couple of weeks didn't make it any less weird. It wasn't as if they even liked each other. Or at least he thought. After today, he couldn't deny that his opinion of the Enforcer had changed and it was clear hers had too.

Or maybe "changed" wasn't the right word for it. It was more like he let himself act on those feelings he sometimes had. He'd been completely honest with her earlier about that part. Sometimes he _would_ get this feeling that there was something there for them, something better than sniping at each other all the time and repeatedly provoking her into locking him up in her cell for attention.

That's why he'd sought her out just now. When he stood next to her in that darkened street, the smell of smoke and ash still in the air, he realized there was a part of him there for his own selfish reasons too.

He wanted her to end up in his bed with her cooling body gliding beneath his fingers. He wanted to be the one to give her what nobody else could. Satisfying a sense of dominance was a small part of it. The growing attachment to her that he couldn't fully admit to was likely the rest.

After rebuffing his attempts to get her to eat, she'd asked to use his shower as soon as they stepped inside his apartment. He'd obliged and tried to quell his concerns about her as she disappeared into his bedroom with the overnight bag she'd grabbed from her car. Twenty minutes later, he risked a peek into the bathroom and saw her standing under the stream of water, not moving, just staring into nothingness. Before he could back down, he stripped and joined her in the shower.

Taking her in his arms, he kissed her, not giving her a chance to think her way out of his embrace. The desperation in the way she returned his kiss encouraged him and focused him on what she needed in that moment. He didn't question why it was his touch that seemed to pull her from the dark thoughts racing through her head. Her reddened eyes closed at the feel of his lips. A soft keening as he touched her replaced the quiet sobs he'd tried to ignore from a few moments before.

She silently urged him to make their encounter fast and hard but he maintained control in order to slow things down. The compromise was a mix of intensity and aggression that left them both gasping. They released hot breaths, one in sync with the other as the water continued to splash over them.

Now Zane could hear her breathing in bed next to him, the back of his hand pressed lightly against her hair fanning across the pillow. It was the only physical contact he had with her at the moment.

She was still awake, that he could tell. But she was curled on her side away from him, probably thinking about what a colossally fucked up day it had been. And he wasn't even counting all the mess she'd had to deal with over him. He thought about curling up around her, holding her as she lay there breathing slowly in and out. Or maybe that was too presumptuous, too familiar. He felt awkward even thinking about it. So he didn't do anything except continue to lay there, fingers brushing against the strands of her within his reach.

He was the most ill-equipped person in this town to give her what she needed tonight. Yet here he was and he felt compelled to do something to try to make this night better for her the best way he knew how. To the extent that she responded to him, well, that was just icing on the cake for both of them.

Soon their lust for each other would burn itself out. It was inevitable and he was fine letting her go if things got to be too intense. That was his M.O. after all and she knew that better than anyone.

But tonight he wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

They were both perfectly fine keeping things casual.

At least that's what Zane told himself over the weeks that followed. He had been kidding himself about how easily he could let her go.

Despite their good relations, he didn't let on about his freakish feelings of fear when he heard she was hurt or the awkwardness that didn't outweigh his desire to comfort her while she recovered.

It was his overriding thought as he sat by her side when that bullet managed to find its way into her chest. He'd been kind of a jerk about it but he was hoping she understood that he didn't really know how to handle the situation. It's not like she was that great either at navigating however it was they were supposed to act around each other now that circumstances had changed.

Zane's reasoning was confirmed when she showed up at his lab the next day after being released from the infirmary. She claimed she was doing another routine security check. But it was he that did a thorough inspection later at his place under the guise of ensuring every part of her person was as it should be.

They were playful that night, the first where they actually talked to each other in full sentences and interacted like normal lovers rather than random hook-ups. Seeing her so relaxed, he even chanced to tease her about their oxytocin-induced public make-out session that had propelled their sexual relationship forward.

"By the way, I had an interesting discussion with Parrish today." Zane had successfully pulled her back into his bed when he caught her picking up her clothes to make a run for his shower.

Jo rolled her eyes at the mention of Zane's former lab partner. "I'm sure it was enlightening," she replied without a hint of curiosity. Instead, she threw one of her legs over his and continued to nuzzle at his neck in a way that made his toes curl. She seemed to know a lot of tricks to turning him on. It was bizarre but he was the last one to complain.

"We were talking about the RSS device actually."

Jo snorted. "Those were good times. We're still cleaning up the damage from that disaster. Or at least we were before we had to start cleaning up after yesterday's disaster."

Zane reached around to stroke her hip. "It had its moments." She smiled against his cheek, no doubt remembering how they ended that little adventure. "And Mansfield got his field-test and a viable prototype. Parrish explained a few things about the science behind it."

"He does love to hear himself talk." She had moved her lips to behind his ear and he had to stifle a rather loud vocal reaction to that tactic.

Going on the offensive, he put a bit of pressure on her hip until she was flat on her back beneath him. Wrapping her arms around him, she continued with her assault.

Zane sighed into her neck before murmuring his story into her ear. "Uh, yeah, he was oddly into it as usual. But he shed some light on a few things."

Jo mumbled something he didn't catch but otherwise ignored him. At the moment she preferred to run her fingers through his hair instead.

"It seems my understanding of oxytocin was a little off. It turns out—" he explained, kissing her soundly to keep her from distracting him further. "It turns out that I may have overstated the therapeutic benefits of our escalating sexual tension that night."

He felt her stiffen against him.

"I didn't lie or anything," he added quickly. "I was just going off of what I knew about the device and my basic understanding of biochemistry which is a hell of a lot more than your average person—"

"What are you saying?" she asked. Her voice was tight and her expression unreadable. She'd also stopped stroking him, which was a major disappointment.

Zane sighed. "The oxytocin thing was real. The sexual tension was real. It's just that, according to Parrish, oxytocin isn't that discriminating. Our situation was just … really convenient."

Jo looked up at him and he had the good sense to appear somewhat embarrassed. They had both been on board that day but she had also followed his lead on matters too.

"Well." She removed her arms from behind his neck. Zane prepared to defend his own honor _and_ try to keep her in his bed. "That sounds along the same lines of what Allison told me the day it happened. Because, unlike you, she _actually_ _does_ know a hell of a lot more than your average person about biochemistry."

Zane exhaled the breath he'd been holding before chuckling. "You knew this whole time?" Wasn't she full of surprises? And while he'd spent way too much time contemplating the implications of his blind lust that day, it turned out that she'd had a whole month to make sense of it, if that was even possible.

Her light laugh joined his as her hands wandered to caress his chest. "What you should be saying is that you're lucky I was around to save your ass." She snaked a hand downwards to give the aforementioned body part a squeeze.

The wiseguy in him couldn't let that go without a fight. "Oh, I wouldn't say that—"

Her pointed look stopped him in his tracks. When she slowly shifted her leg to glide along his, he swallowed and licked his lips before continuing.

"I wouldn't say that anything could have worked better than you." He paused again for a moment. "So, yes, I was lucky you were there." She smiled and drew him down to meet her lips again.

"Very, very lucky," he added before enveloping her in his arms.

* * *

Things went along those same lines a couple of weeks later. He ran into Jo at Café Diem and offered to serve as a distraction from the day's perverted robot fan club. Andy may have temporarily been eager for a taste of her but he wouldn't know the first thing about actually pleasing her. She'd joked about trading in a couple of perverted robots for a perverted, flesh-and-blood human but that didn't stop her from coming apart while riding him to complete satisfaction an hour later. He had kept up with her at every point, even afterwards when he'd lulled her into staying the night. It hadn't been too difficult.

Curled up next to her, he was reminded of S.A.R.A.H.'s words from earlier and wondered if Jo was thinking about it too. Was she looking for someone of her own? And where did that leave him?

Maybe he was really starting to get to her. And maybe that mattered to him.

TBC …

* * *

_AN: Song credit, Koop Island Blues._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Goodbye**

"_We said goodbye, with a smile on our faces."_

After that night, everything changed.

Zane sat in his lab, staring at his computer and feeling conflicted about what he should do with the information in front of him. He needed to be downstairs troubleshooting the latest situation with the D.E.D. device. The problems with it didn't add up and he felt close to figuring out something important. Mansfield had the thing packed up and transferred to another facility which made analyzing his data more difficult. It was also a pretty stupid move since they didn't know the source of the sabotage but it wasn't surprising given the man's track record. Fargo and Henry had been furious but unable to stop it.

Speaking of Henry and Fargo, he still didn't understand much about the odd interactions he was having with practically every person he encountered the last couple of days. But he had his suspicions given the things he'd seen and overheard. And he was almost sure that he and Jo figured into it somehow, stemming from the strangeness that began a couple of months ago in the Sheriff's Office.

He'd been busy lately. For some inexplicable reason, Fargo had been steadily giving him more responsibility and including him on some cool high-level projects, starting with the Sky Cruiser. He didn't trust the little dictator but he wasn't going to complain about a break from the usual string of brain-dead assignments he'd been shuffling through before that.

Jo had seemed occupied too. Or that's how he rationalized why they'd stopped with the hooking up. Of course, she had given him her usual 'maybe we should cool it' speech that last night they'd been together; that didn't make him any less cranky about the dry spell. She said that every time they hooked up and it always seemed like something she said more for her own benefit than his. Then something would happen and they'd find themselves at his apartment once again having the most amazing sex possible.

Zane hadn't been ready to give her up and was a little bitter that she'd set the tone on the issue. One minute she rocking his world and asking him for favors, the next, she would barely look at him and finally she avoided him altogether.

That last part wasn't completely out of left field since there was really an easy explanation for it. He was man enough to own up to it.

She found out about his friendship with Zoe.

The entire situation was assy of him, he'd admit, given what he and Jo had been doing the past couple of months. He knew the two women were close. He thought the whole thing would end up being harmless, just like he'd explained to Fargo when the director decided to stick his nose into Zane's personal life. Things had started innocently enough with Zoe and he really hadn't expected her to crush so hard on him—sometimes he didn't know his own strength when it came to laying on the charm. There was also the added bonus of getting under Carter's skin when he found out.

And he liked the attention from someone who wasn't afraid to publically admit that he wasn't such a bad guy.

That wasn't entirely true. Jo had gone out on a limb for him with Mansfield. She must have gone to bat for him with Fargo to get him on those cool projects—that's the only explanation for how it had happened. When they were together behind closed doors, she was like a goddess. She was attentive and fun and intense. Granted it was all in the context of sex but even before and after, he was constantly amazed at how comfortable they were with each other given their history.

Yet she'd never once invited him over to S.A.R.A.H and he was pretty sure neither Carter nor any of her other friends had any idea that they were hooking up. God forbid she'd be seen actually sharing a meal with him or in any way acting like she didn't hate his guts in front of other people.

Zane rolled his eyes. These thoughts were the most frustrating thing of all. He never got this wound up over a woman.

Maybe Lupo was right. Maybe they did need to stop this. All the feelings he was having about her were exactly why he kept his distance with women. This thing with her had too many implications and he hated that. What they were doing teetered precariously into 'relationship' territory and he just wasn't that kind of guy. He liked having sex with her; he liked it a lot. So it wasn't the sex that was the problem. It was the way he now looked forward to her walking past his lab to check up on him or made casual but sharply worded small talk outside Café Diem.

And there was also the thrill of living dangerously with her when she'd asked him to break into the Department of Defense mainframe. The whole adventure had turned him on to the point of seeking her out for a rekindling of their recent sexual activities. But then Zoe had cornered him about getting together with her later, not hiding her flirtations and hopes for something more. That had been a little awkward, although Carter's reaction to seeing them together had been fun. Things further soured when she succumbed to the latest GD calamity leaving her near death and Jo nowhere to be found. He'd felt terribly guilty about it since he'd hoped for a distraction that would allow him to spend time with Jo instead. He'd never wish her to be hurt though. Finally that initial excitement turned to disappointment and anger at Jo blowing him off when he trusted her with concerns about the shady-as-hell Grant character.

So there was a bit of that bitterness too mixed into his reasons for continuing his friendship with Zoe. When he had picked up Zoe to hang out, he mocked Jo's tension at seeing them together, brushing off her coldness. He did it for the satisfaction of knowing he wasn't the only one who missed their time together. And then he'd shown Zoe a good time, ignoring his longing for it to be Jo by his side in place of her.

Zoe he knew how to handle because he knew everything to expect from that relationship.

Lupo was complicated.

The two of them together were complicated.

Zane was not on board with complicated.

And there were things going on with her that he couldn't put his finger on. As fun as it was sneaking around with her, there was something heavy happening underneath the surface. That could only lead to trouble for both of them.

Zane looked at the envelope on his desk containing the information he'd gathered in the last couple of weeks, including what he'd learned this afternoon. Decision made, he grabbed the package and headed to Jo's office.

They could have all the distance they wanted after he got some answers.

TBC ...

* * *

_AN: Song credit, Koop Island Blues._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Cold**

_"Hello, my love.  
__It's getting cold on this island."_

Jo put down the receiver of her phone before sliding over to send off another email. This is exactly what she needed right now. Sure, the situation wasn't ideal with exploding experiments and the theft of the D.E.D. device screwing up everyone's life. But it kept her mind in the right place, meaning _not_ waiting for her other timeline boyfriend to appear as a figment of her traitorous brainwaves. And it certainly didn't mean listening to him spout any more exaggerations of things she apparently thought she wanted to hear from him.

Yes, she missed her Zane. Yes, she'd been working through that by sleeping with this reality's version of him. Yes, that had made her feelings for the man even more confusing and weird. But thanks to the malfunction at Henry and Grace's party, she was starting to see the truth of the situation.

She needed to let him go.

It wasn't just the heartbreak she felt when she found out about him and Zoe, although that hadn't helped matters. Just thinking about how he'd been playing both of them made her furious and also despondent. But if not Zoe, it'd be someone else he'd turn to when things between them became too complicated. Hell, they'd already gone past complicated so it had been only a matter of time. Seeing him pick up Zoe for their 'date' had been awkward enough, especially after her hallucination convinced her the two were breaking things off. What would happen when she started seeing them, or anyone else with him, making out at Café Diem or holding hands down Main Street? It would kill her to watch him fall in love with someone else.

The real issue was what she'd learned the last couple of days having dealt with the imagined version of him. When she thought the Zane in her head was the real Zane and he confessed that he wanted her over Zoe, she allowed herself to want it too. She'd been dodging his subtle propositions for weeks yet a few profound words while looking at her like she was the only woman in the world had her yearning to fall into his arms again. And then it all turned out to be a big lie anyway.

The problem was that she could never get back the Zane she knew. The more she obsessed about it, the more perverted his memory would become and their love deserved better than that.

And what about these hallucinations? Fargo had suggested there was something she was trying to work out through them beyond simply manifesting the man she loved. Maybe dealing with this idealized version of him was to force her to analyze why she hesitated when he proposed to her. She thought it was the fear of screwing things up with him. However, what if it was because deep down, she realized they really weren't compatible?

Even though her Zane had been less hard-edged than the man in this timeline, he was still the kind of guy with a penchant for finding trouble and a tendency to buck authority. He loved to push the envelope and take risks even if it sometimes ended with him in the infirmary. Jo was the exact opposite. She believed in rules and order and putting the safety of others above all else. Zane was a loner with enough charm to talk his way out of anything. Jo believed in being a part of a family and a community in a way she knew both Zanes had never been comfortable fully embracing.

She lived a contrast of guns and girly things, the thrill of being a badass with the satisfaction of feeling feminine and beautiful at the end of the day. It wasn't until she'd come to Eureka that she had felt comfortable being more than a soldier, more than the brawn who had to be one of the boys by suppressing the woman in her. Zane, on the other hand, was all play. Well, he was mostly play with a fair amount of genius in between. Zane was confident and endearingly sure of himself. He loved outsmarting people and using that big brain of his to make the brilliant ideas in his head come to life.

They didn't have a lot in common but, before, they'd found lots of ways to combine their interests, through friendly video game competition or long hikes in the mountains, for example. They hung out a lot too, eating together or talking or watching television. And as the Zane in this timeline proved, their spark was never in question. Now she was second-guessing everything about their relationship and these things didn't feel like enough. The more she thought about it, the more insecure she became.

And the more time she spent with the Zane in this timeline, the more she worried about becoming too attached. As it was, the last time they'd been together, after the trouble with a town-full of perverted, emotional robots, she'd vowed to end things right then. The way he'd held her and teased her during the night she spent with him had been too … well, it made her think foolish thoughts. With all she'd been through the last few months, she couldn't afford to be foolish. So she'd given him her 'maybe we should cool it' speech and semi-meant it that time.

Then she had planned to sabotage them, purposely and cleanly before she screwed things up when it mattered; the way it had mattered in the other timeline. Perhaps he'd done them both a favor by beating her to the punch and fooling around with Zoe. Not that it made him less of an asshole for it.

It still hurt like hell to see the light in Zoe's eyes when she talked about him, albeit not in terrible detail to Jo whom she assumed still hated the man beyond reason. When they'd been at Café Diem talking about Zoe's love life—before she knew that it was Zane making her glow with happiness—it had felt like a bit of the normalcy she craved following the chaos of Founders' Day. And then that was taken from her too. It sucked that she couldn't share any of this loss with her surrogate sister who had always been there for her when things got tough.

Jo sighed. She'd spent the last several minutes doing exactly what she was trying to force herself not to do—dwell on the disaster that was her personal life. Sooner or later, she'd have to reconcile this situation in her mind because she couldn't go on like this.

The phone rang and she turned to answer it, anxious for a status report on the D.E.D. search so she could focus. After a tense conversation with Thompson, her second-in-command, she hung up the phone and swiveled to her desk to send Fargo and Carter a message on her PDA. She inwardly cursed her startled reaction to seeing the last person she cared to talk to standing in front of her desk.

Unlike the other times, the sight of the hallucination her brain refused to purge made her furious.

"Will you stop doing that," she said around clenched teeth. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She didn't have time to sit here and essentially fight with herself while there was so much that needed to be done about the latest Global catastrophe.

"Doing what?" His denial was equally annoying and she rolled her eyes in response. "I just need to talk you about something." He reached around to his back pocket and she prayed that he wasn't going to reenact his proposal right in the middle of her office. If so, she would absolutely lose it.

She went on the offensive hoping he'd go away on his own. "Oh, what is it now? You wanna tell me how nice my ass looks when I'm holding a gun?"

"Well … " he replied, grinning at the mental picture he was conjuring, no doubt. "I mean you do have a nice ass."

He was impossible. If she needed to confront him in order to get rid of him, then he was going to get a piece of her mind right now so she could get back to her miserable life. "You want to have it out? Okay." She stood up and squared her shoulders. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it with some backbone. "The truth is, I have been romanticizing our relationship this entire time. And, you know, there was a reason I hesitated and now I know what it is."

Zane seemed confused; and also annoyed. "Romanticizing? Relationship? Oh, you mean all the sex we've been having that you started and then put a stop to a few weeks ago." His tone was light enough but Jo knew better. He was upset. "I wouldn't say there's anything romantic about that." His bitterness only made Jo more determined to resolve things inside her head, although this was a new tactic for the hallucination to take. She had been internalizing a lot of conflicting feelings over the whole situation and it made sense that the version of him in her head would pick up on that. That must mean her confrontation was working, right?

She continued, ignoring his change in mood. "You and I? We don't fit. So I'm over it. I'm over us."

Jo was anything but over it. However, this was the first step in what was going to be a long but important process for her—the process of moving on.

She reached up and fingered the chain around her neck that held the last bit of her Zane she'd been clinging to for months. "If you want to hang out with Zoe—" she began, choking back a bit of emotion at what she was about to verbalize, "—go ahead. I'm done."

The hallucination pinned her with an expression of confusion and disappointment that broke her heart. That made two of them.

And then that look of confusion turned to anger. She hadn't been expecting that.

"What the fuck, Lupo? You knock on my door and throw yourself at me; you stick up for me with Mansfield and keep me from going back to prison; you pretend to trust me and make me start feeling all kinds of crazy, confusing things and now you're going off about how you're over it?"

Jo frowned. She really wasn't so fond of her hallucination yelling at her like this, although she supposed it was a lot better than what Allison, Fargo and Carter were going through. It was such a change from how overly-sweet he'd been to her throughout this weird ordeal. "Why are you yelling? I'm just trying to clear the air here."

He glared at her. "Really? You're doing a pretty shitty job of it."

"Look, you're the one that hasn't been acting right, all that stuff about Zoe and then being creepy and romantic with me all day. We had something good together, I'm not going to deny that. But we were never anything like what you've been pretending. We didn't need to be." This wasn't going so well after all. She was just making herself feel worse about losing him.

"Why—"

She cut him off needing to finish this once and for all. "You're not the man I fell in love with. You're just some figment of my imagination that exists because I miss him and regret that he'll never know I wanted to spend my life with him." She pulled the chain from her shirt and gripped the prize it held. "You're not the man who gave me this ring. And neither is the Zane I've been sleeping with since I got here, wanting him to be someone he's not too."

Finally, she unclasped the chain and slipped the ring off before throwing it at him. That seemed like the right thing to do to make this little epiphany feel real to her.

Zane caught the ring and his eyes went wide, both surprised and trying to piece something together in his mind. He looked down at the ring in his hand for several moments and then returned his gaze to her. His stare was hard and uncompromising.

"Lupo, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, although I'm sure I'll figure it out soon enough after some of the stuff I've just dug up." He took a step towards her across the desk. "But you've got about five seconds to explain to me what you're doing with my grandmother's ring."

Now it was Jo's turn to be shocked as she examined the man in front of her—the very real, very pissed off and very non-hallucinatory man in front of her.

Shit.

He seemed like the lover who'd been haunting her all day but … those eyes? They weren't the sexy, playful orbs with which she was so familiar but the steely, dangerous blue of the version she'd come to know in the past few months. She was sure her face reflected her guilt as well as her sadness and fear.

"What's going on?" Zane pressed her. Jo remained silent, not seeing how she was going to get out of this. Grace knowing about their time traveling was one thing but Zane was an entirely different situation. She couldn't tell him outright because he couldn't be trusted. She couldn't lie to him because he'd never let it go now that he had proof something was afoul. This was not going to end well.

She never should have gone over to his place that night and she sure as hell should have never let him get this close to her.

"Hey, Jo. Sorry for interrupting." Carter had entered the room during their silent exchange. Jo didn't even acknowledge him but continued to stare blankly at the furious man across the desk from her. Carter didn't appear to have heard any of what she'd revealed which was the only good thing about the situation. She'd have to tell him soon though.

She saw Carter assess the interaction between her and Zane for a beat then decide to ignore what he saw for the moment. "Umm, Zane, I'm gonna have to take you in for questioning.

"For what?" He tore his eyes away from the ring and aimed his frown at the sheriff.

"For potential collusion and theft of the D.E.D." Carter turned to her. "Sorry, Jo. You done?"

Zane narrowed his eyes at that and turned to her as well. "Yeah, she's done. I didn't do it, but whatever." He reached around again and threw a rolled up enveloped on her desk. "I don't know what's going on with you but I'm hoping you'll at least still do your job. You need to look at this."

Jo had yet to say a word to either man.

Carter grabbed Zane's arm and led him out. "C'mon."

"Fine," she heard him yell as they made their way out of her office and presumably to the town jail. "I'm telling you Carter, it wasn't me."

She moved to sit down before her knees gave out on her. When she finally found her seat, she collapsed face-first into her hands, shoulders slumped over. Because of her, now the threat of the D.E.D theft would be a walk in the park compared to sanctions for time traveling—and concealing any report of it. She and her friends were about to be in a lot of trouble.

The only thing she could count on was that Zane would never go to Mansfield with this information. He hated the man and, more importantly, he'd want to know the details for himself. To what ends, she couldn't imagine. She would have to hope he'd keep his mouth shut long enough for the five of them to think of a way to handle it.

She had screwed up and all because she couldn't shake Zane from her system. If there was ever a sign that she needed to let him go, this was it.

TBC …

* * *

_AN: Song credit, Koop Island Blues._


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Apart**

"_So we are astray, there's nothing else to do.  
__In another place, I see a different you...  
We loved and we lost; I'll never love again.__"_

Zane was amazed at how quickly his outlook could shift. Yesterday, before he'd confronted Lupo with what he knew, he'd been feeling curious, a little anxious but also in the midst of that familiar, exciting zone of solving some complex puzzle.

Not so much anymore. At that moment, his frustration was real, not manipulated and not going anywhere anytime soon.

He'd had a lot of time to think sitting in that cell overnight. He was pissed about being locked up for something with which he'd obviously had nothing to do. He was frustrated about being in the dark with the investigation. He was hurt that Jo and Carter refused to trust him when he said that Grant was somehow involved. He was itching to know the secrets they were harboring yet refusing to divulge, even though it now clearly affected him.

And still Jo refused to explain about the damned ring.

After his release, he followed her towards the entrance to the Sheriff's Office. "Hang on. You're not getting off that easy, Lupo." She turned, preparing for the inevitable confrontation she expected, although it also seemed it was a fight for which she didn't have the energy.

He stared intensely at the tightly contained, frustratingly beautiful woman in front of him. He thought he knew Jo Lupo: the hard-ass Enforcer; the sometime nemesis; and recently, the occasional lover. Or former lover, rather. She at least had the decency to acknowledge the strength of his irritation and was conflicted. Her eyes said it all.

"I'm not stupid. I know something's happened with the five of you and part of it had to do with us."

"Zane let it go. Grant's been cleared and so have you." The way her gaze tracked him, the hesitation in that lingering sweep of her eyes, confirmed there was more to her denials than a simple case dismissal. She was trying to blow him off again and he wasn't going to stand for it this time.

"I'm not talking about Grant." He shook his head and stepped closer to her. "You had my grandmother's engagement ring, Jo." The haunted look in her eyes confirmed the most important aspect of his suspicions. Also, she didn't make any excuses for having the ring in the first place. Whatever the reason, it wasn't something she was willing to let go easily. He hoped that would help her give him some answers. And now that he'd had some time to consider the possibilities, he was positive about what he wanted.

He was a risk-taker by nature; for the first time in his life, he let his heart take the lead. Jo's context may have been slightly off but she was right. They had something good together.

"Come on. Tell me what we were to each other." Did he really expect her to answer? Her hesitation somehow got his hopes up that she would.

A lingering uncertainty turned into an uncomfortably lengthy pause.

"Nothing. I gotta go," she finally responded.

The lie and its symbolic rejection ignited something inside him. His kiss is swiftly delivered, both heated and secure.

When she pulled away, Zane asked with genuine incredulity, "So why has that always felt familiar? Like we've done it everyday for years?"

He looked at her with expectancy; anticipating. From her, there was hope that maybe she didn't want to let him go—whatever it was that they were together, either from before or what they were creating now.

Zoe walked in, words were exchanged, excuses were made.

Jo turned away.

A few moments later, Zane followed.

**The End**

* * *

_AN: I've had this story sitting around since forever, yet, in the 25th hour, I completely changed the ending. Go figure. I just couldn't leave it as bleak as the original. Song credit, I See a Different You by Koop by the way. _

_And apologies for the delay. I got drafted into Thanksgiving madness. Plus, the previous two chapters were add-ons to the original story so I tried to keep them from being too clunky. I do think the story needed the extra interaction before the ending, but it, unfortunately, hasn't gotten as much polish as I'd like. _

_My continued and eternal thanks for reading, favoriting, reviewing following, etc. I appreciate y'all entertaining my musings. Now back to that sequel..._


End file.
